This is really late notice, but the Cube Microplex Cinema in Bristol is hosting a Wes Anderson Appreciation Society event tonight, June 29, at 8 pm. 2 quid.

Revel in the absurdist widescreen world of WES ANDERSON, the hilarious tragedy and the small joys of conversation and camaraderie. Come as your favourite flawed protagonist. Max Fischer from Rushmore. Any one of the idiosyncraticTenenbaums – Royal, Etheline, Margot, Cha[s], Richie or one of their extended
family, Eli Cash, Raleigh St. Clair, and Pagoda. Or come en mass as TEAM Zissou from [The] Life Aquatic.

Savour the speciality cocktails at the bar (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The RoyalTenenbaum and A Life Aquatic) and let dj’s Raymond Baumbach and Matthew Wilson take you late into the night..

Fox Searchlight now lists the New York release date of The Darjeeling Limited as September 29 (one night after its premiere at the New York Film Festival). How this changes the release schedule, we don’t know.

THE DARJEELING LIMITED starring Owen Wilson, Adrien Brody and Jason Schwartzman is an emotional comedy about three brothers re-forging family bonds. The eldest, played by Wilson, hopes to reconnect with his two younger siblings by taking them on a train trip across the vibrant and sensual landscape of India.

According to indieWIRE, Wes Anderson’s fifth film, The Darjeeling Limited will open the 2007 New York Film Festival (September 28-October 14, 2007).

Wes Anderson‘s “The Darjeeling Limited,” will open the 45th New York Film Festival, the Film Society of Lincoln Center announced Wednesday evening…. Notably, screenings this year will be held at the Time Warner Center’s new Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, due to ongoing renovations at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall. However, opening night again take place at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall.

Danny Leigh has written a good (if skeptical) piece about Mr. Fox and Spike Jonze’s adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are over on the Guardian Unlimited (U.K.) film blog:

Those of us with kids or a childish disposition (put me down for both) may have already noted with some excitement that Roald Dahl’s Fantastic Mr Fox is being adapted for the screen… optimistic fool that I am, I can’t help feeling there’s something intangibly right about it. In part, it will be refreshing to see Anderson’s baroque sensibility applied not to the overfamiliar features of Bill Murray but to animated wildlife. It will also be a delight simply to witness one of Dahl’s finest yarns – in which the titular hero outwits the brutish farmers Bunce, Boggis and Bean – being transposed to the cinema.

Some dug-up tapes of Nick Drake’s music (featured in The Royal Tenenbaums) are being released in a new album called Family Tree (rel. 10 July). According to Paste:

Featuring lo-fi home recordings that predate his haunting 1969 debut, Five Leaves Left, the 28-track Family Tree makes a compelling argument for the continued excavation of Drake’s oeuvre (July 07, pg. 95).

You can pre-order this album (and support this site) at Amazon.com:

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And, speaking of the fine publication Paste, I have discovered that back issues are available for purchase, including…

Is The Darjeeling Limited Fox Searchlight’s secret weapon of 2007 or just a happy Wes Anderson comedy? (link)

Jake Coyle, writing for the AP, argues that the last decade of film has been far better than the AFI Top 100 suggests:

According to the American Film Institute’s new list of the 100 greatest films, the last 10 years have produced only four great ones: “Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” (No. 50), “Saving Private Ryan” (No. 71), “Titanic” (No. 83) and “The Sixth Sense” (No. 89).

I get bloated just typing those titles. Granted, the last 10 years have been a historically weak period for films. They can’t touch Hollywood’s golden era of the ’40s, or the heralded ’70s, when maverick directors roamed the studios.

But surely, there’s been more to see in the last decade than Haley Joel Osment whispering “I see dead people.” (Pssst: I’ve seen better movies.)…

Wes Anderson’s classically quirky comedy “Rushmore” is far more than a cult flick. In a long comic lineage of oddballs, Max Fischer (Jason Schwartzman) tops them all.

Many others that weren’t on the ballot are also deserving. Two that could sit comfortably on the shelf next to “Rushmore” are “Election” and the Coen brothers'”The Big Lebowski.” The latter rises to the level of classic — after all, its whole premise is film noir held up to the funhouse mirror of “The Dude.” (link)

Jeffrey Wells dished up some harsh criticism of Wes in relation to his sometimes-collaborator Noah Baumbach. You can read it here, if you’d like. I would like to hear your comments over on the message board.

Mr. Selick worked with Wes on The Life Aquatic. He was scheduled to work with Wes on The Fantastic Mr. Fox, though some sources have cast doubt on this collaboration. His current project is called Coraline. If anyone plans to attend, please report any Wes related news to webmaster@rushmoreacademy.com.

The (alleged) script for The Fantastic Mr. Fox (March 2007 edit) has been floating around. There was also an (alleged) script for The Darjeeling Limited (at natalieportman.com no less), which has been removed. I have no sense of how developed these scripts are (or if they are legitimate). I don’t plan to post any of these on the site (for personal and legal reasons). There has been some discussion of this subject as of late on the forum.

The script for Wes Anderson‘s stop-motion animated film, “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” has leaked. The follow-up to the-not-yet-released, “The Darjeeling Limited, ” Anderson and ‘Life Aquatic’ c0-writer, Noah Baumbach adapted the script from the original Roald Dahl children’s novel. George Clooney and Cate Blanchett will voice the lead characters and rumors have it that Anjelica Huston and Jason Schwartzman will join the cast. Celebrated animator Henry Selick, apparently the real force behind “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” was scheduled to work on the film, but has allegedly moved on to other projects (namely Neil Gaiman’s “Coraline”).